Mountain roads, custom builds, and a group of Tesla owners who just want to drive somewhere interesting together. That’s what SoCal TeslaRuns is. Andrew organizes these, posts them on Instagram, and lets the community show up. This one was Lake Arrowhead, starting at the Tesla Supercharger at Inland Center Mall in San Bernardino.
We took the Model Y. Ninety percent state of charge to start, which is not a range or battery health flex. Just where it was sitting.
The Lineup
Over a dozen Teslas showed up. Three Cybertrucks, a handful of Model 3s and Model Ys. No Model S. If you’ve got one in SoCal, the community would love to see it at one of these.
Two builds stood out before we even left the parking lot.
The first was a Model 3 in a color close to Frost Blue, the new shade from the Model S and Model X refresh. It had roof racks, a Yaka, and a front grille. First time I’d seen this build. Sharp, clean. That’s Adrian’s car. More on him later.
The second was Jimmy’s Model Y. Jimmy switches wraps every few months and is well known in the local Tesla Facebook community for custom installs. This one had plaid seats, a yoke, Alcantara headliner, ambient lighting, and a screen that tilts. The headliner stood out: white seats and white interior, but he blacked out the headliner in Alcantara and had a shop do it. The result is a car that looks like a completely different interior tier.
On the Mountain
The convoy headed up toward Lake Arrowhead. About halfway, we found a turnout and pulled over for photos and a drone shot. Someone had a drone. I forgot mine.
Trip data at the halfway point: 31.9 miles, 14 kWh used, 437.7 Wh/mi. Climbing a mountain in a Model Y will do that. The regen on the way down is where it gets interesting.
After the first stop, another Cybertruck joined the group. We pushed further up to the Rim of the World area. Will’s Cyberbeast wrap stood out in the lineup.
Lake Arrowhead
Eight Supercharger stalls at 250 kW in the structured parking at the top. Most of the group took spots. I was at 59% and didn’t need to. The village below has shops, places to eat, and some construction going on. They’re building something out.
What’s worth noting is that the Supercharger installation up here is fairly recent. Before it went in, there wasn’t really any charging available in Lake Arrowhead. Now there’s 250 kW infrastructure at the top of the mountain. Big Bear has a Supercharger too and is expanding.
Adrian was there with the Frost Blue Model 3. Up close, there are more mods than you catch at first glance. Wrapped interior panels, ambient lighting, a lot of it DIY. Last time I saw him was at the Riverside Toy Drive, where that car was all white with Christmas lights. Different vibe.
The Regen Story
I had to cut the visit short. Abby called. We had Cybertruck plans at Dana Point after this, so I packed up and headed down.
Trip data leaving Lake Arrowhead: 42.8 miles, 19.3 kWh, 450.7 Wh/mi. All that climbing.
Total round trip: 75.5 miles, 22.6 kWh, 299.6 Wh/mi. That’s what regen does on the way down a mountain. Nearly 150 Wh/mi recovered in average over the full trip.
If you want to see what this same kind of organized run looks like on a different route, the TeslaRuns through Azusa Canyon to Mt. Baldy has a similar vibe. Andrew runs these regularly. Follow SoCal Tesla Runs on Instagram to catch the next one. If you’re new to Tesla and want to join something like this, a Tesla referral link gets you into the ecosystem with some credits to start.
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